Dave Elleray

Dave was born and brought up in the English Lake District, a beautiful environment that could be described as perfect for maintaining mental health and a natural playground for the soul. However, despite this and even with the presence of a loving family Dave suffered periods of depression, anxiety and extreme bouts of destructive anger from around the age of 11. As an adult and despite troubling experiences, Dave managed to create a successful tree-surgery business, but it wasn’t long before he began to suffer a high level of stress that led him to seek professional psychological help. He felt such a degree of disconnection from life that he suffered regular suicidal thoughts and began to take unnecessary, dangerous risks as if “tempting fate”. He was drinking heavily and taking prescribed drugs to try to alleviate these symptoms. Dave was seeing therapists’ on an every-other-day basis, still drinking heavily and suffering. In July 2013 a friend introduced him to a new understanding of human psychology, based on simple principles that explain what underlies our human experience. Although this understanding did not impact Dave immediately it was just a few weeks later, having watched a video of a man called Sydney Banks that a deep truth dawned on him. In a single moment life became clear and the years of his mental suffering ceased.

Dave became aware of the simplicity of life and gained insight into the innocent misunderstanding that creates all mental suffering. Unsurprisingly he made the decision to focus on helping others to uncover their own true mental health and his journey since then has been joyful and fascinating. He has since travelled widely giving talks and working closely with a wide range of people in diverse settings.

Dave travelled to Nepal after the earthquakes in early 2016 to share this understanding with hospital staff, psychologists, school children and teachers. He subsequently travelled to South Africa to introduce staff at an eating disorder clinic to this profoundly effective approach to mental health and addiction. Dave has also spoken at conferences in the UK and abroad and currently runs weekly groups as well as working with individual clients.

Through these simple yet profound principles Dave has found a peace of mind he could not have imagined was possible and shares his rediscovered love of life and passion for nature with all around him.